King Ranch Institute to Host Prescribed Burn Lectureship

The King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville will host the Gus T. Canales Prescribed Burn Lectureship Monday through Friday, Jan. 4-8, at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Center adjacent to campus. The cost of the lectureship is $500 and the registration deadline is the first day of the course, Jan. 4.

This lectureship is designed to teach the safe use of fire as a rangeland and wildlife habitat management tool. Those who complete the course and successfully pass the exam are provided the formal training necessary to qualify as a Certified Prescribed Burn Manager in Texas.

Participants will take part in a least one prescribed burn and learn how weather affects prescribed fire, how to make a burn plan, burning techniques, fire behavior and how to control a fire, the effect of fire on various vegetation types, burning rules and regulations in Texas and fire safety, tools and equipment required for prescribed burning.
Lectureship speakers include Dr. D. Lynne Drawe, former director of the Welder Wildlife Foundation; Dr. C. Wayne Hanselka, former professor and extension range specialist in ecosystem science and management at Texas A&M University; and Dr. Allen Rasmussen, dean of the Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

About Dr. D. Lynne Drawe

Drawe is best-known for his research on plant community ecology, prescribed burning and wildlife-livestock interactions and native rangeland plants of South Texas. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications on the native vegetation of the region and he consults on many of the area’s large and historic ranches. He has received numerous distinguished awards from the Society of Range Management, Texas Tech University and Utah State University. Drawe is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.

He currently serves as adjunct faculty at A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech. Drawe chairs the Texas Prescribed Burning Board, a position appointed by the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. It is this group that has written the rules for certification of prescribed burn managers in Texas.

About Dr. C. Wayne Hanselka

Hanselka recently retired from his position at Texas A&M. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, all in wildlife sciences, from Texas A&M. He taught four years at Sul Ross State University and joined the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in 1976. For over 10 years, he was associate department head and extension program leader for the rangeland ecology and management extension program unit. He is general manager of the La Copita Demonstration Ranch and Research Area.

About Dr. Alan Rasmussen

Rasmussen received his doctorate from Texas Tech University. He was appointed to the faculty at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 2002 and currently holds the rank of professor and research scientist in the department of animal and wildlife sciences and Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, respectively. He also holds the position of dean for the Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences. Rasmussen conducts research in habitat management and fire ecology.